Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes
"Cotton Comes to Harlem" by Chester Himes is a crime fiction novel set against the backdrop of Harlem during the 1960s. The story hinges on a rally organized by Reverend Deke O'Malley, who promotes a Back-to-Africa movement, enticing impoverished families with promises of land and resources in exchange for their investments. The event takes a dramatic turn when a heist unfolds, involving masked gunmen stealing a substantial sum of money collected for the movement. As the narrative progresses, two black detectives, Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson, are drawn into the chaos, investigating the robbery and the deceit surrounding Deke.
The plot interweaves themes of racial tension, crime, and deception, exploring the complexities of community dynamics and the consequences of fraudulent schemes. Characters' motivations and interactions reflect broader social issues, including the struggles faced by African Americans in their pursuit of dignity and self-determination. The novel ultimately presents a multifaceted view of Harlem, enriched by its colorful characters and the interplay of crime and justice, leaving readers to contemplate the broader implications of its events.
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Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes
First published:Retour en Afrique, 1964 (English translation, 1965)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Mystery and detective
Time of plot: Early 1960’s
Locale: Harlem, New York City
Principal characters
Grave digger Jones , a black police detective in HarlemCoffin Ed Johnson , a black police detective, Jones’s partnerDeke O’Malley , a former convict and a phony ministerIris , O’Malley’s former girlfriendMabel Hill , O’Malley’s new girlfriendBarry Waterfield , O’Malley’s assistantRobert L. Calhoun , leader of a white supremacist groupLoboy , a junky and thiefEarly Riser , a con man and a thiefAbraham Goodman , a Jewish junk dealerUncle Bud , a rag picker
The Story:
A rally and barbecue in Harlem draws a crowd to listen to the Reverend Deke O’Malley speak about his new Back-to-Africa movement. For one thousand dollars, any family who signs up will receive transportation, tracts of land, a mule, and seed to farm in Africa, free from the racism that plagues the United States. Though one thousand dollars is a sizable investment for the poor families of Harlem, Deke and his cohorts nevertheless manage to collect eighty-seven thousand dollars, which is stacked in an armored car hired for the occasion.
During the rally, two black police detectives arrive, allegedly sent to bring Deke in to the station for questioning and to confiscate the money he has collected. Simultaneously, a meat truck drives up, apparently to replenish the rally barbecue. The back doors of the truck burst open, and masked white gunmen jump out and hijack the loot. One of Deke’s cronies, John Hill, resists and is shot dead. The gunmen roar away in the meat truck. Deke and the detectives set off in pursuit in the armored car. As the meat truck turns a corner at high speed, a bale of cotton tumbles out the back. As the chase continues, a local rag picker, Uncle Bud, discovers the bale, loads it onto his cart, and hauls it to a nearby junkyard to sell.
At the same time, two thieves, Loboy and Early Riser, are sweet-talking a woman in an attempt to steal her purse. The woman becomes aware of their ruse and smacks Early Riser, who runs into the street to avoid her wrath. He is run over by the fleeing meat truck, which then crashes. Meanwhile, two other black detectives, Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson, learn of the robbery and set off to investigate. Jones and Johnson immediately suspect Deke, a known former convict, of a scam and question his girlfriend, Iris, in an attempt to locate him. Deke, in the meantime, calls home and learns that the detectives are waiting for him. Jones and Johnson are ordered to go to the meat truck crash site, and they leave a white police officer to guard Iris; she seduces the officer to escape.
Johnson and Jones examine the wrecked meat truck, discovering cotton fibers, and suspect the stolen money had been secreted in the bale that had fallen out of the fleeing truck. They then recognize the body of Early Riser and search for his known associate, Loboy.
Deke, in the interim, seeks refuge with Mabel Hill, the attractive widow of John Hill. Mabel and Deke inevitably sleep together, and Iris finds them. The two women fight. Iris then shoots Mabel dead, and Deke knocks her out before he flees. Iris is later arrested for homicide. Jones and Johnson, meanwhile, find Loboy, who identifies the meat truck driver as a white man.
The next day, a rival movement is afoot in Harlem. It is called Back-to-the-Southland, which is offering transportation and work to blacks willing to return to the South. The movement, the brainchild of white supremacist Robert L. Calhoun (known also as the Colonel), who epitomizes the white antebellum planter, is merely a front to retrieve the missing cotton bale and the money. An angry mob gathers to protest Calhoun’s organization. Barry Waterfield, one of Deke’s cronies, approaches Calhoun and offers to sell him a list of Back-to-Africa supporters ripe for the Back-to-the-Southland scheme. They agree to a rendezvous to exchange the list for money.
Jones and Johnson question Iris, who tells the detectives about Deke’s scam. They have Waterfield followed and then allow Iris to leave so she can be followed, too. At the meeting with Calhoun, a gunfight breaks out, and Waterfield is killed, along with three of Calhoun’s henchmen. Later, Joshua, an assistant of junk dealer Abraham Goodman, is found dead, and the bale of cotton is missing from Goodman’s junkyard. Deke is taken into custody, but he does not remain behind bars long: Deke’s former armored car drivers, Freddy and Four-Four, break him out, killing two police officers in the process, and remove him to a secret room in Deke’s church to torture him until he reveals the whereabouts of the eighty-seven thousand dollars. Iris arrives at the church, followed by Jones and Johnson. She is captured by Freddy and Four-Four. Jones and Johnson engage in a shootout with the two men, killing them, and then recapture Deke and Iris.
The bale of cotton, meanwhile, surfaces at the Cotton Club, where exotic dancer Billie Belle uses it in her act. The bale is auctioned off to Calhoun. The bale is opened and examined, but it contains nothing. Jones and Johnson allow Calhoun to escape criminal charges in exchange for eighty-seven thousand dollars, which will be returned to the people who invested in the Back-to-Africa scam. Deke and Iris are indicted on a number of charges, including murder. The detectives later learn that Uncle Bud had found the money in the cotton bale. He then had flown to Africa and used the cash to purchase cattle to buy one hundred wives.
Bibliography
Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. New York: Continuum, 2003. A new edition of a thirty-year-old study from a noted film critic and historian. Examines the changing roles of African Americans in motion pictures, from racist, stereotypical roles to positive roles in films such as Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970).
Fabre, Michel, and Robert Skinner. Conversations with Chester Himes. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1995. This posthumous collection of interviews conducted over time with the author includes Himes’s thoughts about blacks and Harlem, racism, detective fiction, and other subjects. Helps readers to understand the motivations behind his writing.
Lawrence, Novotny. Blaxploitation Films of the 1970’s: Blackness and Genre. New York: Routledge, 2008. A critical examination of blaxploitation films, a series that many believe began in 1970 with the film Cotton Comes to Harlem, based on Himes’s novel of the same name. The series, produced especially for blacks, depicts black protagonists in traditionally black milieus, not without controversy for stereotyping.
Margolies, Edward, and Michael Fabre. The Several Lives of Chester Himes. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1997. A biography based on letters, memoirs, and Himes’s fiction. Explores the cultural, socioeconomic, and family factors that shaped his views and writing. The authors knew Himes personally.
Sallis, James. Chester Himes: A Life. New York: Walker, 2001. A biography of Himes and an examination of his writings. Sallis had been inspired by Himes to become a crime novelist. Supplemented with black-and-white photographs.
Skinner, Robert E. Two Guns from Harlem: The Detective Fiction of Chester Himes. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1989. An examination of Himes’s fictional detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones that traces their creation to Himes’s early life, experience as a criminal, and first-hand experiences with racism.
Soitos, Stephen F. The Blues Detective: A Study of African American Detective Fiction. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1996. An analysis of the history, traditions, and themes found in mystery and detective novels featuring black protagonists, from such authors as Himes, Pauline Hopkins, J. E. Bruce, Rudolph Fisher, Ishmael Reed, and Clarence Major. Includes a detailed bibliography.